The 2024 Puget Sound Regional Start Page

Gateway to masterpoints, results, photos

Alert: your browser may be showing you an old version of a page which is updated often. F5 (computer) or the ↻ button (phone or tablet) will get you the most recent version.

Basic Tournament Information

Location: The Lynnwood Convention Center has been renamed the Lynnwood Event Center but it is the same location as previous versions of this tournament: just north of Seattle and near I-5, at 3711 196th St. SW, at the left of the map at the right.

The Big Change: This year, for the first time, the Puget Sound Regional is switching to start times of 10am and 3pm for most events, a change that has swept most of the ACBL over the last decade or two. For local players used to the old 1pm/7pm times, this means several things to get used to:

• Driving to the tournament for a 10am start will take place in the final stages of morning rush hour. Give yourself some extra time or consider a different route that might be less congested to ensure you arrive in plenty of time. Afternoon games ending at about 6:20pm may catch the last of the evening rush hour for those who must rush home.
• There will not be a lot of time to eat between sessions. Those taking advantage of the many restaurants nearby may wish to change their plans to a light snack between sessions and a big evening meal, armed with lots of companions, two hand records (or a cellphone that can display ACBL Live results) and twice as many stories! The LEC Snack Bar will be open from noon to four for hungry players, but might be quite crowded in the limited time between the end of the morning session and the start of the afternoon session. Finding a way to take advantage of the early opening (likely a few rounds before the end of the morning session) might be a good strategy. Going out between sessions is not likely to be a viable option except for nearby fast food.
• The only evening events from Tuesday through Friday are 7:15pm starts and are Semi-Fast Pair games: six minutes per board, done by about 10pm.
• Monday's events include a special Pro-Am Charity Pairs at 3pm — one player under 300 masterpoints; and a 7:15pm evening session consisting of the opening round of a three-session knockout, a Charity Pairs which is the first Evening Side Game (and continues with the Semi-Fast pairs later in the week), and a non-Life Master Charity Pairs, limited to Non-Life Masters under 750 masterpoints.
• The main events are at 10am and 3pm every day, including two-session Open and Gold Rush pairs, the single-session Morning and Afternoon Side Games, a new knockout teams on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with Bracketed Round-Robin Teams on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday opposite the semifinals and finals of the knockouts that began the day before.
• There is no Saturday Evening Session at all. This gives everyone a great opportunity to find a group and hash out the Saturday deals and stories at any one of the dozens of nearby restaurants, before resting up for the final day!
• Sunday is Teams-Only. There are two events, a Top Flight Swiss Teams, and a Bracketed Round Robin Teams for players under 3000.

Driving: the site is very close to I-5's main Lynnwood exit, 196th St. SW, which is less than a mile south of the northern junction of I-5 and I-405. Driving in from the north, you exit I-5 at the 196th St SW exit, and you're almost there: the Lynnwood Event Centre is on the northwest corner of the first traffic light off of the highway at 36th Ave. Go through the light and turn right just past the building and you will find ample free parking: watch for signs leading to additional parking across 36th Ave. if there is none available. From the south it is a little trickier: exit 181B sends you east on Alderwood Mall Pkway for a few blocks, then turns north and at the traffic light you turn left on 196th St SW and go west, over I-5, and you meet up with the folks exiting from the north: the site will be on your right, past the first intersection on the other side of the highway overpass.

Transit: Community Transit's 166 route goes very close to the playing site, starting in Edmonds at the Amtrak station (a good way to get to Lynnwood if coming by train) and going to the Ash Way Park & Ride and beyond to the Silver Firs area. The stops on 196th St SW closest to the playing site are at 36 Ave W (going westbound ) and 40 Ave W (going eastbound). The Lynnwood Transit Center, with many bus routes, is about a 10-15 minute walk from the site, and in a few weeks will be a rapid transit station linking Lynnwood with downtown Seattle and SeaTac airport.

Restaurants and Shops: It is no exaggeration to say that you could play at this tournament in every session, never walk more than six blocks from the playing site, and never eat twice at the same restaurant! There are at least forty restaurants within easy walking distance of the playing site, most (but not all) listed on the Google Maps screenshot above, with many, many more a short drive away! A few blocks west is a large Fred Meyer grocery/department store, a few blocks east over the I-5 overpass is a Whole Foods market, and the sprawling Alderwood Mall, with dozens more nearby eateries, is about half a mile north. However, the new start times mean that to enjoy all this you'll want to plan some evening outings, rather than the old way of eating between sessions.

Tournament Site: The Lynnwood Event Centre's upper level will be used for the tournament, and the main entrance is on the northwest corner, nearest the free parking. As you walk in, you will see past the LEC reception area on your left, a door (one of many) leading to the playing area, but continuing straight will lead you to the TournTables bookstore in the corner, then left to washrooms, and the Partnership and Hospitality Desk. Players will need to bring in coffee and snacks they want to have available during play (please be proactive in avoiding messes that will frustrate LEC staff). Inside the playing area, there are usually two entry-buying stations, one for pairs near the front of the room, and one for teams near the back of the room.

Alert! Entry sales are cashless: bring your credit or debit cards. Be sure to alert the seller if you want to split the entry among more than one card; this is easily done. $16US ($4 extra will be charged for unpaid or inactive members) is the entry fee per player per session. For purchasing entries on site, directors will need to know for pairs and knockout teams an approximate masterpoint total for your pair or team, and if you have more than four players on your team. This helps us ensure that no section or group of tables is significantly stronger than the others in a pair game, and helps us determine the brackets in a knockout (so be as accurate as you can, please). "We're A's" is insufficient since we usually try to place the best of the A-strat in certain spots so the opposing pairs don't face you all in consecutive rounds!  Online sales are still under the lights at the shop and their performance at the Toronto NABC is being examined before a new rollout for Regionals and Sectionals later this year (we hope).

Freezing Up: I have found that many bridge players need this important reminder: the site is air-conditioned for the comfort of all. Outdoor temperatures in late August may be quite warm, and many of us have gotten used to the heat by now. It really is a good idea to bring a sweater if air-conditioning makes you shiver. Large sites are very difficult to maintain a temperature that is comfortable to everyone, especially when the body heat of several hundred players enters and exits the playing area several times a day. Requesting a change in the AC level in a large hall is not something that takes immediate effect. Most modern buildings are constantly monitoring the temperature and making the changes you are demanding before you even ask. The best solution is to be prepared and have a sweater or jacket with you.

Dates, Times, Events: 10:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 7:15 pm are the start times from Tuesday thru Friday. The tournament begins on Monday August 19 at 3:00 with a special, 18-board Pro-Am Charity Pairs (one player below 300 points). The first main events are at 7:15pm with a three-session Knockout Teams (which continues Tuesday morning and afternoon for surviving teams), and the first Evening Side Game session (plus a special non-Life Master game) also takes place on Monday evening. On Saturday we have only 10am and 3pm (no evening session). On Sunday August 25, play begins at 10:00 am with two team events: an open Swiss Teams with three strats, and an under-2500 Bracketed Round Robin Swiss Teams. Sessions should end 3¼ - 3½ hours after they begin, on Sunday things end by about 6pm in the teams, perhaps earlier. Evening Sessions from Tuesday to Friday have only one event: the Evening Side Game Series (semi-fast open pairs). The main sessions are morning and afternoon, with Open and Gold Rush 0-750 two-session Pairs, Side Games for those wanting to play only one session, and three Knockout Team events (Monday-Tuesday: three sessions only, Wednesday-Thursday: Soloway-style with a qualifying round-robin on Wednesday, and Friday-Saturday, also Soloway-style), plus two-session bracketed team events on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (bracketed round-robin), for teams that didn't get to the semifinals and other interested team players.

There is a 0-300 Pairs game (both players must have fewer than 300 masterpoints) on Saturday Morning, as well as one on Monday Evening. The next step up for developing pairs players is the daily two-session 0-750 Gold Rush events (both players under 750), morning-afternoon Tuesday to Saturday. These events offer masterpoints for leaders in each of the two sessions and even greater awards for the leaders over the whole day's play, with gold points quite possible in the top strat, which everyone is eligible for, while pairs averaging 400 or less will also be eligible for red points in the lower strats.

The Table Counts page has a list of events by type with a column for each session of the tournament: even before I begin adding the table counts for each event it is a useful chart to plan which events to play. The official tournament flyer with the complete schedule is here.

Bridge For Youth, the Seattle organization promoting youth bridge, is having a special game on Saturday afternoon. You can also donate to Bridge For Youth, or read about their activities, at their website here.

Speakers at 6:15pm on selected evenings will be announced when we hear more details.

COVID: ACBL and District policy recommends, but no longer requires, that all players be fully vaccinated. District policy is that masks are optional but players should expect to occasionally be asked to wear one if requested by the opponents (who must supply them). Just as some players are more uncomfortable with strong scents, some have serious concerns about the closeness of players at the table, and courtesy dictates that we do our best to accomodate both. Please co-operate if asked: masks will be available for those without one on hand.

Let's use common sense and remember that while we are all happy to see the end of the mandatory restrictions, COVID is still out there and everyone is still returning to normal at their own pace. Players should stay away from the crowded playing areas when symptoms suddenly develop that might be COVID. Most pharmacies have COVID testing kits available for free if you'd like to be sure before you play. At the same time, let's not ostracize anyone who sneezes or coughs a time or two and trust that they are being as vigilant as we all should.

Slience Those Ringtones Please! While we discuss courtesy (which I have always found in abundance with Seattle-area players in many pleasant visits), let's be sure to silence our gadgets. For today's cellphones this means more than simply setting the volume to zero: some phones play alarms and ringtones even if the sound is turned down. ACBL has recently relaxed the rules on penalties when a ringer goes off, but this shouldn't be happening. The onus is on each of us to discover how to prevent our gadgets from causing unnecessary distractions — not just cellphones: tablets you carry with you, watches that beep every hour, music players that sound a few tones every time they pair with headphones, gadgets you've left inside a coat somewhere, all can be major distractions to someone trying to interpret the hidden meaning of the auction or the cardplay or the conventions partner has forced on them. Take a moment and find out how to silence your gadgets, and get into the habit of doing it before each session, and undoing it afterwards. If you must be 'available,' vibrate mode is entertaining to all (as long as it is set to a level that avoids the production of penalty cards...)!

This Web Site: My plan for the Daily Bulletin site is to provide you with a quick daily digest of the events and results of the tournament, with direct links to ACBL Live for each event, if you want the complete details and deals. I write (or create software that writes) simple HTML that should render well on computers, tablets, or phone screens of most sizes. The site consists of a group of pages linked together by links bars like this one:

Daily Pages: Before the day's events are processed, these will contain a schedule of events in this order:

• Two Session Morning and Afternoon Games
• Daytime Single Session Games
• Evening-only Games

There will be details on each event, what type of game it is, what the strat limits are, last year's winners, and a direct link to the ACBL Live results, which will be active following each session. Near the bottom of the page will be similar details on the following day's events.

At the end of the day Director-In-Charge Jenni Carmicheal will send me the days results and I will process them into the website in the early hours of the morning. The "day completed" version will remove the "today's schedule" section and add in the day's results, in this order:

• Masterpoint Leaders at the end of the day (not including events that are not yet complete)
• Noteworthy News Items Received — tournament chair Ann Romeo and other members of the Lynnwood organizing team will have messages and you'll see them interspersed throughout, with the heavy double white rounded border and a distinctive typeface to let you know this is official info!
• Two Session Pair Games: Open Pairs, Gold Rush Pairs
• Two Session Swiss or Bracketed Teams
• Single Session Swiss Teams
• Completed Knockouts
• Rosters for Surviving Teams in Knockouts that are not yet complete
• Side Games
• Side Game Series Leaders
• Tomorrow's events will remain at the bottom of the page (and will also be available on the next day's page, of course.)

Round-By-Round Leaders!: Most events will include, just after the overall leaders, a colourful round-by-round account of the top pairs in each strat: where you were after each round, what you did, how far you were from the lead. There is much more on this new feature here.

Once a day's results are posted, I may revise it later if there are late scoring corrections: if so I will note this in the event headline. Some browsers save a copy of a page and do not check to see if the content has changed; in most browsers you should be able to hit F5 to reload the page and stop using the one your computer has saved. On tablets there is usually a circular arrow that does the same thing.

Other Pages: You're looking at the Welcome page right now. The Masterpoints! Page, which we call DUMPS (Daily Updated Master Point Summary) will be updated every night first, before the daily pages of results take shape, and will contain the latest masterpoint totals and tournament leaders, both overall and limited to non-Life Masters. Also, they will have everyone's current total broken down into red and gold points, but will not include masterpoints already won in events that have yet to be completed. The Photos Page will depend on people sending me photos taken. Now that everyone's cellphone has a camera, anyone can do this! Here is a good guideline on how to get best results:

• Above the Strike Zone: Try not to include in the frame any part of the body below where the letters would be on a baseball uniform. People want to see faces, not waistlines. If you have people of different heights, you might have to include the tall one's strike zone(s), but make faces your focus.
• Fill the Frame: Don't stand so far back that only 10%-20% of the frame is faces. Move up close and look at your screen as a guide. I will always crop out legs and shoes, and if this leaves an image that is small, the quality will suffer.
• Send the biggest version you can: It's important. ooga@shaw.ca is the address to send photo files to. Don't send the one that takes up the least bandwidth, it will look blurred on a screen if the resolution is lowered beyond a reasonable level.
• Identify!: I need to know who the people are and what they did. If they won an event, tell me which one and first names from left to right in the photo will suffice (I can get the rest from the data I am sent). I'd also like to credit the photo taker, so tell me who you are as well.
• Watch the lighting and background: At night, photos taken in the dark may not look too well and require touchup. The playing area is usually best for light. I have taken a lot of photos that seem to have trees coming out of the tops of people's heads, so avoid that if you can, although now that all photos will appear online in colour (as opposed to monochrome on paper), this is not as big an issue as it used to be. Leavenworth has some great outdoor scenes that would make great photos: if your team goes out for dinner, take a photo of the team somewhere and send it along if you win! Simple is usually best, against a wall inside the playing area, or even in a space in the middle with people milling around a distance away can sometimes work.
• Patience: There's a lot to do at scary hours during a Daily Bulletin week, especially when I have daily Director duties that require a reasonable amount of rest, and it may take a day or two before I can get around to posting photos. Or responding to those who have sent them.

The Table Counts page has been rewritten from a pdf of a spreadsheet to a Python program that puts the attendance data into a colourful HTML table. You can check it out to see a graphical-display of the events of each session, by type, and compare our attendance in 2024 to that of 2023. A realistic goal is about 60% of the 2019 attendance, which happens to be a target of 771½ tables!

Finally, the ACBL Live link goes to the list of tournament events, from which you will need another click or three to find the one you want. Direct links are available from the event results on the daily pages and should be faster.

Thanks for visiting! This is still a work in progress and the progress in getting it where I want it to be continues slowly, but that's web development for you! For this Welcome page, I used the traditional Sounders FC colors to honor the team I enviously wish my hometown Vancouver Whitecaps could challenge more consistently. (Actually, since Apple TV+ began streaming MLS games, teams have been wearing all kinds of new colors and I seldom see Seattle in their traditional green anymore....) We have a lot more color in the pages post-pandemic, with each page having its own palette. Two years off and a look at what I did in 2019 produced the impression that we needed a splash of non-white for the pages, and a bit of CSS work made this happen quickly. (I've already heard the line that it now looks like a Canadian billfold and I approve!) Feel free to contact me (see above) with reports of errors or if something isn't working for you.